Middle East Live Blog: ++Egypt condemns Israeli airstrike++

Egypt accuses Israel of not wanting to end war in Gaza after airstrike on school building. US is giving Israel an additional $3.5 billion. Live blog for all developments.

France strongly condemns Israel’s deadly attack on a school building in the Gaza Strip. The French Foreign Ministry in Paris said that educational institutions have been targeted several times over the past few weeks. The number of civilian casualties is unbearable. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that Israel must comply with international human rights law. At the same time, it once again called for the immediate release of all hostages kidnapped by Israel and an immediate ceasefire.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah accused Israel of lying and deceiving the public after launching a serious attack in the Gaza Strip. “Talk of a ceasefire and a new negotiation date is nothing but lies and deception,” the militia said. Israel’s “real choice is killing and massacre.” For more than ten months, Palestinians have suffered the “most heinous massacre.”

Our correspondent Anna Osius reports from Lebanon that the coming war seems to be closer both geographically and spiritually to Beirut.

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, strongly condemned Israel’s attack on a school building in the Gaza Strip that was used as a shelter for displaced people. “Another day of terror,” Lazzarini wrote on the X platform. According to Israel, Hamas also used the building as a command center and hideout.

Lazzarini wrote that schools, like other civilian institutions, should never be targeted by parties to a conflict or used for military purposes. “Parties to a conflict must always protect civilians and civilian infrastructure,” Lazzarini said. The UN representative warned that the unbearable should not become the new normal.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed shock at Israel’s attack on a school building in Gaza. “At least 10 schools have been targeted in recent weeks. There is no justification for these massacres and we are dismayed by the horrific total number of victims,” ​​Borrell wrote on the X platform. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began in October, Borrell wrote. He warned that a ceasefire was the only way to end the killing of civilians and ensure the release of the hostages.

About 20 members of the radical Islamist Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups were targeted in an airstrike on a school in Gaza City, according to the Israeli military.

“The site and the destroyed mosque within it were active military installations of Hamas and Islamic Jihad,” Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said on X-Platform.

He added that Hamas’ claim of around 100 deaths in the attack did not match the casualty figures reported by the Israeli army.

Egypt has criticised the incidents, which came amid an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza City that may have killed more than 100 people. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Israel’s “deliberate killing” of unarmed Palestinians showed the country lacked the political will to end the war in Gaza.

The Israeli military said the school was the command center of the radical Islamist group Hamas.

According to the Israeli military, the airstrike in Daraj Tufa, northeast of Gaza City, targeted the Hamas command and control center, which is a hideout for Hamas terrorists and commanders.

“The Israeli Air Force precisely targeted Hamas terrorists operating from the Hamas command center inside the Al-Taba’een school, located near the Daraj Tufa Mosque, where Gaza City residents are seeking shelter,” the Israeli military said.

Before the attack, many measures were taken to reduce the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precision munitions, aerial surveillance and intelligence information.

According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, an airstrike hit a school in the Daraj district of Gaza City, killing more than 100 people. Dozens of people were injured. There were displaced people in the school.

A statement from U.S. Central Command said that in the past 24 hours, U.S. forces destroyed a rocket launcher and an unmanned boat in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

In addition, the US Central Command said that two Houthi armed drones were shot down over the Red Sea.

A U.S. State Department panel decided not to impose sanctions on the Netzak Yehuda Battalion after receiving information from the Israeli government, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.

“After a thorough review of this information, we have concluded that the entity’s violations have been effectively remedied.” The force can now continue to receive U.S. support.

According to the US military, US soldiers in Syria were attacked by drones. An unnamed US official told Reuters: “Initial reports show no casualties. We are currently conducting a damage assessment.” The attack took place in the Rumarin landing area where US and US-led coalition forces are stationed.

Washington is giving Israel an additional $3.5 billion to buy American weapons and military equipment. This is reported by the US State Department. Congress has been informed. According to CNN, these funds are part of the additional $14 billion in funding for Israel approved by the US Congress in April.

In a separate phone conversation with Israeli Defense Minister Jovan Galant, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed that escalation in the Middle East is in no one’s interest.

Meanwhile, Blinken stressed the need for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the State Department said. “The secretary reiterated the United States’ strong commitment to Israel’s security and discussed that an escalation of the situation is not in the interest of either party.”

Iran’s mission to the United Nations said Tehran’s threatening response to Israel’s killing of Ismail Haniyeh had nothing to do with efforts by Israel and Hamas to achieve a ceasefire in the 10-month-long war in the Gaza Strip.

“However, we hope that the timing and the way our response is carried out will not affect a possible ceasefire,” the New York delegation said in response to a reporter’s question about whether Iran would plan a retaliatory strike after the war. Ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip may be postponed until next week.

Achieving a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is the top priority of Iran’s UN mission. Any agreement accepted by Hamas will also be recognized by Iran.

Moscow has banned Russian airlines from flying over Israel for the next few nights. Israel begins new military offensive in Khan Yunis aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping. Friday’s developments are worth reading.